Text.“Any person subject to this chapter who, knowing that an offense
punishable by this chapter has been committed, receives, comforts, or
assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension,
trial, or punishment shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”

Elements.

(1) That an offense punishable
by the code was committed by a certain person;

(2) That the accused knew
that this person had committed such offense;

(3) That there after
the accused received, comforted, or assisted the offender; and

(4) That the accused did so
for the purpose of hindering or preventing the apprehension, trial, or
punishment of the offender.

Explanation.

(1) In general.
The assistance given a principal by an accessory after the fact is
not limited to assistance designed to effect the escape or concealment
of the principal, but also includes acts performed to conceal the commission
of the offense by the principal (for example, by concealing evidence of
the offense).

(2) Failure to
report offense. The mere failure to report
a known offense will not make one an accessory after the fact. Such failure
may violate a general order or regulation, however, and thus constitute
an offense under Article 92. See paragraph 16. If the offense involved
is a serious offense, failure to report it may constitute the offense
of misprision of a serious offense, under Article
134. See paragraph
95.

(3) Offense punishable
by the code. The term “offense punishable by this chapter”
in the text of the article means any offense described in the code.

(4) Status of principal.
The principal who committed the offense in question need not
be subject to the code, but the offense committed must be punish-able
by the code.

(5) Conviction
or acquittal of principal. The prosecution must prove that
a principal committed the offense to which the accused is allegedly
an accessory after
the fact. However, evidence of the conviction or acquittal of the principal
in a separate trial is not admissible to show that the principal
did or
did not commit the offense. Furthermore, an accused may be convicted
as an accessory after the fact despite the acquittal in a separate
trial
of the principal whom the accused allegedly comforted, received, or assisted.

(6) Accessory after the
fact not a lesser included offense. The offense of being an accessory
after the fact is not a lesser included offense of the primary offense.

(7) Actual knowledge.
Actual knowledge is required but may be proved by circumstantial evidence.

Maximum
punishment.Any person subject to the code who is
found guilty as an accessory after the fact to an offense punishable by
the code shall be subject to the maximum punishment authorized for the
principal offense, except that in no case shall the death penalty nor
more than one-half of the maximum confinement authorized for that offense
be adjudged, nor shall the period of confinement exceed 10 years in any
case, including offenses for which life imprisonment may be adjudged.